BOB

BOB

Obivuosly the same as he did before – fight subdomestic bums for 9 out of his 10 title fights and 1 actually legit one.

Posted
September 26, 2014 5:30 pm

Popkins

It’s worth remembering that Groves had less than 20 fights and had was barely in the Ring top 10 at the time of Froch/Groves 1. And had fought nobody really. On paper quite comparable to say Peter Manfredo back wen Joe fought him. Yet by the media’s reaction to Froch/Groves last weekend you’d hav thought Froch had just beaten Marvin Hagler! … Calzaghe beat Hopkins in Vegas for the Ring title, but Froch seemed to get more credit for beating George!

Posted
June 5, 2014 5:30 pm

Popkins

Great article. It’s true, Calzaghe was very underrated throughout his career. But as the years go by I think he’ll get the credit he deserves. Ward is a worthy successor to Joe, but the Welshman wud hav edged him over 12 rounds.

Posted
June 5, 2014 5:16 pm

TARK

I really don’t give a damn about race… I don’t think Calzaghe was that good… I think Kovalev would beat any version of Hopkins… and beat Stevenson too, both by KO.

Posted
June 4, 2014 7:34 pm

Assyrian God

I am just not convinced by Ward. The general public do not care about him, and among boxing fans he is either massively overhyped (true he really only has 3 or 4 major wins) or dismissed as a cheat and fouler. He has achieved nothing like the level of success, and the longevity of Calzaghe, Eubank, Benn, Jones Jr, Hopkins etc. He has a very long way to go before he can be regarded as on that level.

Posted
June 2, 2014 9:38 am

SANITY = sredmond

SANITY = sredmond

Posted
June 2, 2014 9:12 am

Anonymouse

Eubank? He had a better resume than Ward, and an individual style the feather fisted, fouling, negative Ward would hate. Eubank could hit damn hard, unlike Ward. He could counterpunch or brawl, Ward just spoils, headbutts and counters already exposed slow as molasses one dimensional pressure fighters.

Posted
June 2, 2014 9:01 am

Anonymouse

Ward? What has the guy actually done? He has had 4 maybe 5 major fights, thats all folks! Thinking about it, its true all those guys have been slow movers, all have been straight up come forward guys, all have been beat already, and all had to fight him in his back yard! Whoop de do! Kessler, Froch, Abraham, Bika, all already beat, all slow crawl forward punchers. Forget Allan Green and Edwin Rodriguez, both second raters, and lets get real, Dawson starved himself down in weight to fight Ward, and Dawson was no great shakes even as a Lt Heavy.

Posted
June 2, 2014 8:58 am

FACTS ARE FACTS

FACT

The more you segregate people, the more pronounced their prejudices will become.
The more insular, the more xenophobic.

Only by mixing with peoples who are perceived as ‘different’ can any common ground be achieved and all the myths and stories quashed. Just like the stories of the boogeyman and the yeti, familiarity with others will reveal them to be just stories.

Everyone will swear that their sh-t doesn’t stink. Well, guess what, it does!
Women fart, they burp and we all need to wipe our asses….

Get my point?

The sooner people stop segregating themselves the better our communities will become and lies and myths about others will be consigned to the rubbish dump of history!

Just saying!

Posted
June 2, 2014 6:15 am

Anonymous

Assyrian god says the 97 version of Chris Eubank would beat Andre Ward.
Any credibility Assyrian ever had has just been flushed down the toilet.

Posted
June 2, 2014 6:08 am

SANITY

Joe looked faster than usual against Eubanks and Lacy because A. Eubanks was a battle worn has been and B . Lacy was always glacial and the most overhyped fighter I have ever seen.

The guy beat nobody. I first saw him on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights and thought “whats the big deal ,he’s a plodding , unskilled , passive type and not the puncher they claim ” Typically of the modern age Lacy was being called a world champion when he was still had “L “plates . Joe vs Lacy always reminded me of Duran vs Davey Moore . A boy vs a man.

Posted
June 2, 2014 4:05 am

SANITY

After reading the last few posts its obvious that if anyone is racist its Assyrian God and UK .

I disagree with 75% of what Tark writes but have never even seen him mention race . He is also a huge Klitschko brother fan. As Assyrian seems like an ok guy if one eyed about Joe I will call it a faux pas not intentional racism.

I also believe Ward is a faster fighter than Calzaghe and far superior technically. So called superman Joe struggled to beat Robin Reid. I believe the 42 year old Hopkins outpointed him so its hardly a huge reach to think that Ward could beat Calzaghe.

Like all Joe’s rabid fans Assyrian ignores or refuses to answer questions about why Joe hid in Wales holding the little regarded WBO super middleweight title for a decade.

Back in 1997 when Joe won the title the WBO was considered to be a joke and super middleweight was possibly the least glamourous , least prestigious title above featherweight.

Hopkins in my opinion was prime when he stopped Glen Johnson in 1997 . Compare him in that fight to when he was a 43 year old . I will admit that Calzaghe was past his best when he fought Hopkins and Jones but Frank Warren and Joe made a choice to sit on a title at home and fight cans .

Cheers m8 , I might disagree with everything you wrote about Joe but I dont doubt your sincerity or passion. I am too old and too cynical to be a “fan “of any fighter but in spite of all it’s flaws I still love the sport.

Posted
June 2, 2014 4:00 am

UK

“Ward is the best African-American Super Middle, so it is psychologically hard to accept for Americans that a non-African American was or is better.”

In other words, Tark is a racist.

Posted
June 2, 2014 3:33 am

AssyrianGod

Tark – Thats not the case at all. Look at Calzaghe vs Lacy, Calzaghe Vs Eubank and tell me Ward had faster hands and feet, and more ring mobility! Ward is not a fast mover, hes faster than the exclusively slow, straight at you types of opponents he faces, but he is not fast in comparison to prime versions of Calzaghe and Jones, not even close. Wards punch output is not even close, nor is his stoppage record. Ward does not have great power, his ONLY stoppage win was over Dawson, and Dawson was WEIGHT DRAINED. He is a light heavy who had to boil down. Kessler was in his prime when he fought Calzaghe, and Calzaghe was 35. Calzaghe still beat him, Ward beat Calzaghes left over. And Ward head butted Kessler all night long, illegally. Forget Calzaghe going down against Jones and Hopkins A] Calzaghe was coming to the end and was not a real Light Heavy. B] RJJ caught him with a FOREARM and BHOP caught him off balance and pushed him. Byron Mitchell was the only man to really catch a prime Calzaghe, and he got straight up and finished him in the same round. Wasnt Ward floored by a journeyman called Darnell Boone?

Posted
June 2, 2014 3:29 am

TARK

Assyrian God.., GTFOOH.. Ward is faster than Calzaghe ever was.

Calzaghe wasn’t fast enough to get away from knockdown punches thrown by Mitchell… Jones… and Hopkins…

Calzaghe wasn’t fast enough to get away from brutal punches thrown by Kessler.

Kessler never nailed Ward with shlt. Ward finessed him as easy as pie. Ward gets in-n-out faster than Calzaghe ever did, and his jabs are quicker, slicker, and faster.

And Ward has very good power… He was the first fighter to stop Chad Dawson who easily beat Hopkins. In Ward-Kessler… Kessler was done when that fight was stopped.

Posted
June 2, 2014 1:59 am

TARK

Anonymouse you’re an idiot… Glen Johnson was a different fighter when he faced Roy Jones.. A killer.

That version of Glen Johnson would have smashed Calzaghe easily. Roy Jones also beat guys who beat Johnson. That didn’t help Roy at all — because he was facing a different version of Johnson.

Posted
June 2, 2014 1:41 am

te tumbo

prime Calzaghe would get spun and Stung and Dropped by Ward all-fight-long. Ward is dangerous moving forward or backwards or laterally. he remains dangerous. he’s as ring-smart as Mayweather and as natural as Toney. this is a case of exceeding quality simply overwhelming a light-hitting swarmer like Calzaghe. he would fare no better and perhaps worse on the outside. anybody else and Calzaghe is a credible if not favored opponent but not against Ward. “SOG” currently occupies the lofty peak of Undefeated and Undisputed. a prime Calzaghe doesn’t change that.

Posted
June 1, 2014 8:56 pm

te tumbo

Calzaghe exceeded my expectations the moment after he got up from being dropped by Hopkins. afterwards, he seriously Slapped Hopkins around like an old man but we now all know that Hopkins was far from being too old to fight or at least defend himself. he made Jones look no less impotent while Slapping him silly. it was another spectacle to behold. a prime Calzaghe would do fine today. he was a tough, resilient, and a frustrating guy to face and awkward enough to bedevil a master or a clown. a solid top-5 if not three. in fact, i can’t name five 168lbrs that i would favor over prime Calzaghe.

Posted
June 1, 2014 8:48 pm

Vector

Calzaghe didn’t even attempt to stop Jones. His hands were in a terrible state by that stage of his career and he rarely ever threw full power shots with his left. You could count the number of power shots he threw per fight towards the tail end of his career, that’s how few and far between they were.

They were in such bad shape by that time he had to wear specially designed custom made Grant gloves to protect them from the Kessler fight onwards. He was told by a specialist in 2006 that he’d have to retire or run serious risk of not being able to use his left hand at all never mind punches with it.

He actually has a second ridge of knuckles on the back of his left hand which he acquired from all the breaks and fractures he sustained to his metacarpals throughout his career. Steve Bunce and Barry McGuigan spoke about this during one of the build up shows to the Jones fight. Bunce described them as looking like golf balls.

The only power shots he did throw with his left in the Jones fight was the sequence of three straight left that ripped Jones’ eye to shreds. That’s why they were so conspicuous, because you could hear a noticeable audible difference in the power of them compared to the blurring lighter flurries of his mid to late career.

Jones was powerless to avoid those three straight lefts. Calzaghe landed them at will and he could’ve done so at any time. But he stopped throwing them with real venom after that and allowed Jones to see it through to the end.

Posted
June 1, 2014 8:43 pm

SANITY

Actually Turbo , Joe didnt have much of a straight left cross. He always tended to throw round house or overhand lefts .

Posted
June 1, 2014 7:45 pm

SANITY

Swedish Boxing Fan

Joe Calzaghe was a great fighter and a good super middleweight world champion BUT was recognised world-wide very late in his career. For very many people he wasen’t recognised as a dominant champion until he out-boxed Jeff Lacy in 2006.

Joe Calzaghe was celebrated by many Europeans after he fought the once long time Middleweight king and Lineal light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins for his Ring/Lineal Light heavyweight world title and won a disputed Split Decision.
Hopkins was the man in power punches and has Calzaghe for count in 1st round. According to ESPN, Yahoo Sports and Associated Press, they scored the fight 114-113 for Bernard Hopkins while many other experts scored it 115-113 for Hopkins. Me included, but it was a hard fight to score and it could have went either way.

To say that Joe Calzaghe would have continued to dominate is hard to say as there where no fighters like Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Sergey Kovalev or Adonis Stevenson back when he retired so if he had stayed around for now, he would have had a lot more difficult opponents then in his super middleweight days.

I feel that Calzaghe would never had made it far like Hopkins have done today as Calzaghe looked worn-out mentaly after the Hopkins fight in 2007 and the Roy Jones Jr fight in 2008 was a “cash-out” fight.

Posted
June 1, 2014 6:45 pm

TARK

Anonymouse… That’s strange. Tarver and Johnson flattened Roy Jones and Calzaghe couldn’t even put Roy down… Why did Calzaghe pick on Roy instead of the guys who knocked Roy flat??? He was cherry-picking as usual.

Posted
June 1, 2014 6:22 pm

Fedor

Andre Ward would sting Joe with counters, and Calzaghe would fire back with some awkward combinations. Hard one to call, both are awesome and I am a big fan of both

Posted
June 1, 2014 5:46 pm

Joped

Joe was on PEDS throughout his career. All those pain killing injections masked his use of PEDS.

Posted
June 1, 2014 1:57 pm

Anonymous

Joanne Bugner

Loomis – Calzaghe beat a PRIME Reid with a broken hand and influenza/severe cold. Froch beat a totally shot Reid who was coming off losses to Silvio Branco and Jeff Lacy. Get real!

Posted May 31, 2014 11:58 am

Prove it. Otherwise you’re talking through your ring hole.

Posted
June 1, 2014 1:55 pm

Haimat

Calzaghe’s jab was his best punch. He hit B-hop with the straight left over and over.

Posted
June 1, 2014 10:01 am

Anonymous

prime

Posted
June 1, 2014 9:35 am

Adrian

As soon as someone start using the word” prime” get ready to hear an escusse …

Posted
June 1, 2014 6:29 am

1903

D, Hopkins would go 12 with Kovalev right now let alone at 43. Calzaghe was 36 when he fought Hopkins and Jones people need to stop talking like it was a young guy beating up old guys.

Posted
June 1, 2014 6:11 am

Turb0-H@mster got some new aerobars

Calzaghe had no straight left …hahhahahahhahahhahahha

Posted
June 1, 2014 5:00 am

D

guarantee you a 39-year-old jones or 43-year-old hopkins wouldn’t go 12 with kovalev. neither would jermain taylor or jeff lacy

Posted
May 31, 2014 9:12 pm

SANITY

I know one thing Kovalev is a far more dangerous fighter than anyone Joe ever faced. The guy is a rangy bomber with good technique , a very bad style for a soft handed volume punching southpaw. If Byron Mitchell could have Calzaghe near being kayoed I believe Kovalev would have done the job.

Really enjoyed the Froch vs Groves fight . Carl is a warrior and in many ways the anti- Calzaghe.

Compare how Slappy Joe ducked Froch to how Carl took up the challenge from Groves. There is a reason Joe never fought in front of 80000 at Wembley.

Posted
May 31, 2014 7:51 pm

TARK

Haimat.., Calzaghe had no jab and no straight left. Kovalev has a great jab and murderous straight right. Have you ever seen Calzaghe go to the body with the murderous impact that Kovalev displayed against Cleverly and Agnew??? Both were undefeated before Kovalev wiped them out. He’s a killer.

Calzaghe was a weak slapper who hit the deck more times than Froch did, and who couldn’t get the tomato can opponents he agreed to fight out of there.

After Roy Jones got embalmed twice by Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver he was done. Then JC wanted to fight him.

Posted
May 31, 2014 4:46 pm

Trainer1965

Joe Calzaghe was one of the most gifted southpaws to enter the ring! Calzaghe fought a fair few punchers Eubank , Brewer , Lacy , Reid , Kessler , ec and was only really hurt once versus Mitchell.

Posted
May 31, 2014 2:20 pm

Vector

Calzaghe also had a damned good chin in his prime too, ie. that’s not the batterworn one who’d been fighting for over a quarter of a century (with a very aggressive style) that was dropped by Hopkins or by an illegal closeline forearm by Jones.

youtube.com/watch?v=AikBb3DrrRc

youtube.com/watch?v=6LzFsfOmwUA

Posted
May 31, 2014 2:13 pm

Vector

Calzaghe did used to hit hard before his hands turned tyo crap, which was actually pretty early into his reign, hence why he had to alter his style and rely more on throwing faster lighter flurries as opposed to loading up on his left hand with heavy shots. He was actually known as a banger in the amateurs. He stopped all but one of his opponents during his second and third ABA titles, four in the first round. Only two of those opponents made it out of the second round.

How do you recall the (Joe) Calzaghe fight?

”The main thing I remember about Calzaghe was how hard he punched. I thought he had bricks in his gloves at one point. On top of that – he was big, he was strong, he was hearty, he had fast hand speed and he had a very awkward southpaw stance.

He was unbeaten, he didn’t know how to lose. I actually lost 20 pounds in a week and was preparing for a righty light-heavyweight. (Laughs) Has there ever been many more difficult tasks?

On top of all that, he puts me down in the opening 15 seconds, for only the second clean knockdown of my life. (Laughs) .”

”I’ve never been knocked down in the first round before Joe hit me with a powerful left-hand punch, which I never saw, and within half a minute of the bell ringing I was having to pick myself up and deal with the realization that I was in for a long night. That punch really hurt and thereafter it was a tough fight.”

Joe obviously went on to be an exceptionally great world champion.”

Chris Eubank

”I started out [professional] with the Ingles. I used to do a lot of body sparring with the likes of Bomber Graham, Johnny Nelson and Naseem Hamed. Nelson never had any bottle: he used to nick fights running away. But Naz was ****ing brilliant – so elusive and he hit really hard. Even when he were just 15, he told my uncle to get his autograph ‘cos he were going to be a superstar.

Nigel Benn used me seven times over in Tenerife, including for the Gerald McClellan fight. I had a big bet, three figures, on McClellan to win in the first round at about 10-1. And he would’ve if the ref hadn’t kept interrupting. Nige and me would spar half-an-hour a day, then both go out on the piss. We always had a headguard and 16 oz gloves and often I’d outjab him. Nigel weren’t a liberty-taker.

But the best I’ve been inside the ring with was Joe Calzaghe in sparring. Beforehand, I thought he were quite boring to watch and looked as if he slapped but, **** me, he punches hard. If he slapped, Bernard Hopkins would’ve stood toe-to-toe with Joe, but he [Hopkins] got on his bike, didn’t he? If Joe and Nigel had fought, I think Joe would have been able to take the pain and would’ve ended up hurting Nigel, bit like Michael Watson did.”

Tony Booth

”I thought I’d been hit by a lorry”

Karl Barwise

”This kid has everything”

Spencer Alton

”I’ve never been hit so hard and so often”

Andy Flute

“After working with Robin Reid last month I was already buzzing, but when the call came to work with Joe, well he’s the best on the planet,” he told Seconds Out.

“I was invited down to work with Joe for five days and I’ve enjoyed every minute. This has been a fantastic opportunity for me.

“The hardest puncher I fought (long pause) that’s a real tough one. I dished out a lot more punishment than I ever took. But I’d have to say Joe Calzaghe. Joe was not a one-punch KO kind of guy, but he overwhelmed guys; he had those ridiculous combinations!”

Charles Brewer

Glen Catley, Dean Francis, and Robin Reid said he hit hard too.

youtube.com/watch?v=VT7MWG7UKV0

youtube.com/watch?v=rDNNT9JvTRo

Posted
May 31, 2014 1:31 pm

dick tiger

IMO Joe Calzaghe was a great fighter. My fellow American the late Emanuel Steward referred to Joe as a great fighter and called him a “Fantastic Fighting Machine.” I tend to believe that Emanuel knew what the hell he was talking about.

Posted
May 31, 2014 12:54 pm

Loomis

Annoymous, are you having a laugh or telling yourself jokes. Froch stopped robin Reid and joe could only manage a split decision and froch beat jean pascal in a thriller. Between the dates you mention ,Don,t make silly excuses for calzaghe , joe has 1 , arguably 2? good wins in an 46 fight career .

Posted
May 31, 2014 11:56 am

me

Haimat

SANITY, you obviously don’t know boxing. Listen, Joe had terrific footwork, his hand speed was unmatched, great ring generalship. He was a complete pro fighter. He took on B-Hop and beat him at his own game. You keep on nagging about his punching power? Joe had decent power, especially prior to his hand injuries. It’s not an important factor. What made Joe great was his completeness as a fighter. Peas

Posted
May 31, 2014 9:59 am

Anonymous

the real great fighters are long gone.

Posted
May 31, 2014 7:44 am

SANITY

Anonymouse tells us that Calzaghe was a better puncher than a prime Jones. Fukc me , you people havent got a clue…

Posted
May 31, 2014 7:34 am

Anonymouse

Assyrian God-The analogy between Ward and Ottke is a good one too. Ward is similar to Ottke and BHOP, a slow moving awkward spoiler without much power who nullifies the other guys work. Fighters with styles like Ward, Ottke, Toney and BHOP have a fatally critical weak point when it comes to great speed, high workrate, great mobility, volume punching and high stamina levels. Calzaghe could do and all that, so could a prime RJJ and even Jermain Taylor at one time. Calzaghe had a better chin than RJJ and Taylor though, in his prime more power too, and he could change styles and brawl better than them both. No way ard or any version of BHOP beats Calzaghe. Froch would lose like Lacy, the guy is tough, but slow as molasses.

Posted
May 31, 2014 7:27 am

Anonymouse

So true, cant understand why some people just dont get that Froch wasnt a big name back then, and nor was Chad Dawson. Froch is a big name NOW, but 2006-2008???? No way, no one had heard of him outside his home town, he had no major wins to his name. Dawson had beat a weight drained Adamek and thats all, he wasnt a big name either, Dawson never was a great fighter anyway. BHOP and RJJ were marquee names, so its obvious even to the stupidest dunce that those guys were the ones Calzaghe was going to end his career against.

Posted
May 31, 2014 7:22 am

AssyrianGod

@TMZ – [1] – Calzaghe WAS a name, just not in the inward looking USA. Remember, the USA is not the World, and much of that world was there long before.
{2] Calzaghe did not ”avoid” Ottke, Ottke point blank refused to fight him. He was very similar to Ward, and awkward spoiler who only fought at home.
[3] Calzaghe also called out Hopkins, who twice refused to fight him.
[4] Calzaghe did not fight ”nobodies” – Eubank, Mitchell, Brewer, Woodhall, Kessler, Lacy, Reid, Hopkins, Bika and Jones were all former, concurrent or future World Champions. Shieka was highly rated and coming off a win over Glen Johnson, Giminez and Ferriera were established top 10 fighters, Starrie was a top prospect, Viet was 31-0 etc etc
[5] Eubank was not a ”shell’, he has said himself Calzaghe was better than him, and he proved he was no shell vs Thompson. That Eubank of 1997 would beat prime Ward and prime Froch.
[6] Calzaghe never avoided Froch. When Calzaghe moved up to Light Heavy at the end of 2007, Froch was a no name still, with only an ageing Robin Reid and Brian Magee on his resume

Posted
May 31, 2014 6:46 am

Adrian

So what even if Calzaghe “avoided” froch ?? The guy wouldn’t bring much glory or the money even if he fought him then ,because I guarantee you even if he had fought froch and beat him still the same fans who are saying ” Calzaghe beat an inexperienced Kessler ” would have said Calzaghe beat froch ” before he got some experience fighting elite boxers ” so here you have it , Calzaghe didn’t miss much for not fighting froch ….

Posted
May 31, 2014 6:15 am

1903

Calzaghe did not avoid Froch . At the time Calzaghe had decided he was going to retire and wanted to tick a box by fighting in the famous Madison Square Garden which he was unlikely to against anyone other than Jones Jr. No one at the time was saying he should fight Froch other than Froch himself it it only with hindesight of what Froch has gone on to achieve that has led people to say he should have fought him.

Posted
May 31, 2014 5:52 am

TMZ

The super middles were so poor in the late 90s and 00s we actually had 2 guys making 20 defences against nobodies. if you need any proof Ottke with 20 defences is never talked of even though he finished his career 34-0 or something like that. Joe won the title in 97 and if he was so great why did he not become a name until 05? Because, he fought nobodies and refused to fight Ottke to unify. He made excuses about phobia of flying and ducked any live challengers by feigning injury time and time again only fighting once a year against hand picked mandatories. Saying that he was actually a good fighter but no one knows how good as he ducked out of rematches with Reid, Kessler and Hopkins.

Posted
May 31, 2014 5:41 am

TMZ

Joanne Bugner

Remember Yanks, this article asks about a Prime, Super Middle Calzaghe. Before his hand injuries Calzaghe could really hit, he had Chris Eubank down, and Eubank had a granite chin, even a 200lb plus Carl Thompson could not do that. Ward would have had no chance, Eubank was far better than Ward.

Posted May 31, 2014 3:54 am

Crap!
Eubank was training for a Light Heavyweight fight and had less than 2 weeks notice to get ready for Calzaghe. Eubank was on a pension tour comeback and was not the ideal preparation for a whirlwind like Joe. If you look he was caught square on with his feet in the first and was embarrassed, more than hurt. This was a shadow of the man who hammered Benn and out toughed Watson, so it’s more like a re-run of Calzaghe and Roy Jones, for what that was worth.

Posted
May 31, 2014 5:34 am

SANITY

Iron Jaw Joe was put on his arse by Hopkins and Jones who arent exactly big punchers at their advanced age. Byron Mitchell also hurt Calzaghe. Joe fought VERY few real punchers. He was no defensive genius either . He was an awkward southpaw feather fisted volume puncher with good hand speed and agility but very flawed technique . Calzaghe also had a great will and conditioning but was prone to losing his temper in the ring . A fine fighter but hardly an all time great.

Jermaine Taylor had already outpointed Hopkins twice a couple of years before Calzaghe did it . It hardly qualifies one for greatness .

Guys like Assyrian always tell us about how Joe C “couldve and wouldve “done this and that. The guy fought Ottkes retreads for a decade for christs sake . He even ducked Carl Froch and fought the dead man walking Roy Jones instead. Compare Joe to Froch – he fought Groves when he didnt really have anything to gain . Joe when in the same situation ducked Froch.

Andre Ward is a far better fighter than anyone Calzaghe faced. He isnt an old man for starters. He is a great technician and infighter.

Calzaghe also ducked Steiglitz to fight Peter Manfredo and dropped out of TWO fights with Glenn Johnson. He managed not to fight Ottke for whatever reason ( neither fighter would leave home for starters ) .

Joe only has one dominating performance in his career and that was against Lacey who was as overhyped as say Andre Berto .

Many of Joe’s fights are unwatchable , he makes old Hopkins look entertaining. The Reid , Starie , Thornberry , Bika and Hopkins fights are all terrible to watch.

I would compare him to a Welsh Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom.

Posted
May 31, 2014 5:25 am

Sea Otter with a huge rod

urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tark

Posted
May 31, 2014 5:03 am

Robbie Williams

Joanne Bugner

you re an old hag.

Posted
May 31, 2014 4:58 am

Anonymous

TARK the GRASS

Got a neighbour arrested and thrown in jail just because a dog was barking.

What a low life scum bag you are TARK.

Posted
May 31, 2014 4:50 am

Adrian

Stop with the “what if’s” already !!!

Calzaghe retired undefeated and if you want to judge his opponents that are still at a top today , take as an example Hopkins ,that is what we DO know , Calzaghe beat Hopkins who is still a champion !
Case closed!

Posted
May 31, 2014 4:19 am

Anonymous

Now watch the but I’m actually British and don’t have an agenda brigade come forth. They’re almost as convincing as the haters pretending to be objective and fair fans lower down the page. Ha

Posted
May 31, 2014 3:53 am

Anonymous

Ha most of calzaghe’s haters are butthurt yanks and racist blacks. it’s hilarious how bent out of shape and insecure they are. They’re still crying their eyes out about him over half a decade since he hung up his gloves.

Posted
May 31, 2014 3:48 am

Haimat

When Kovalev’s involved all logic goes out the window for TARK.

Posted
May 31, 2014 3:46 am

Trainer1965

Boxing Barlow.., you’re right, my friend!

Posted
May 31, 2014 3:31 am

1903

Tark, of course Kessler is going to say he was improving no fighter actually admits he has deteriorated but we all know the truth. Kovalev is still Cleverly’s only defeat because he’s only fought once since against a nobody. For someone who is trying to pick apart Calzaghe’s record to claim Cleverly’s is good is laughable.

Posted
May 31, 2014 3:31 am

Haimat

TARK, we all know Kovalev´s your baby. Still, a second rate amateur (Kovalev), who hasn´t fought anybody that I knew of prior to the fight and I´m a nerdy guy. You put this man on a pedestal with no accomplishments.

Listen, Calzaghe would have boxed the ears off Kovalev. That´s the difference between good and great fighter. Calzaghe would have boxed him. Pumped the jab all night long, made sure to punish Kovalev in close.

There is no one at or around 168 today that would have been a serious threat to Joe C. Give Andre Ward 5 more fights and maybe he´ll give the Champ a fight.

Posted
May 31, 2014 3:04 am

Mince Meat

Roy Jones – Steriod User, stopped taking PEDS went downhill fast

Bernard Hopkins – Dirtiest fighter alive, overrated an boring !

Joe Calzaghe – Pure fighter, no excuses !

Posted
May 31, 2014 2:44 am

Trainer1965

Boxing Barlow.., you’re right, my friend!

Posted
May 31, 2014 2:01 am

TARK

1903 says.., “Tark, Calzaghe beat the best Kessler the Kessler that Ward beat was not the same proposition. What has Kovalev done to suggest he could have beaten Calzaghe? Defeated Cleverly? Haha good one.”

Ward beat a better Kessler. Kessler had more experience. Calzaghe was the only good fighter he ever faced before he fought Ward, and that was a great learning experience.

Kessler had never been stopped and said before his Froch loss, “It’s true Im not the same fighter as I was the first time I fought Froch. I’m better. I move my head better and my defense is better. My footwork is better. My body attack is better. So what they’re saying is true. I’m not the same fighter because I work hard to get better with every fight.”

And Cleverly was a terrific feather in Kovalev’s cap.

Cleverly was an undefeated World Champion when he fought Kovalev.. Kovalev fought him in Cleverly’s back yard.. Calzaghe predicted Cleverly would beat Kovalev. Cleverly has beaten MANDATORY challengers for Adonis Stevenson and Bernard Hopkins’ titles … so he’s no neophyte, and his only loss is still to Kovalev.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:37 pm

SANITY

SANITY

You just have to read the comments to realise that the average Calzaghe fan is basically a nationalistic boxing neophyte. They never deal with facts and spend more time slagging off other fighters than actually defending Calzaghe. It’s a fact that Joe held the little regarded WBO SuperMiddleweight title for a decade before facing Kessler and that Joes level of opposition compared to greats from the past is pretty crappy at best .

Look what happened to Hatton when he fought Mayweather or Naz when he fought Barrera . Thes a large difference between beating b-c grade fighters and fighting guns like Mayweather and Barrera . Look at Dave Biy Green vs Sugar Ray Leonard or Sibson and Minter vs Hagler . Joe never made the step up and fought great opposition like those I just mentioned.

Joe was actually fairly unknown in his pomp among casual British sports fans . Prince Naz was the big name in Britain for most of Calzaghes career.

Joes fanatical Welsh fans get carried away as Wales isn’t exactly a heavyweight at world sport.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:05 pm

Jk

If Hopkins loses to Kova is the Hopkins lovers going to say it was because of ” age ” . Another excuse

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:57 pm

Jk

Let’s not speak to bad Hopkins Stedmond, B Red and the other Hopkins lovers might get mad

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:55 pm

Boxing plus

Never bring up the reason Hopkins lost because of age. Calzaghe wanted Hopkins years before they actually fought. Hopkins knew a loss the perfect excuse for hop kiss butts would be oh Hopkins lost because of age

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:45 pm

Lol!

Bhop is a great at low blows, head ramming, ring stalling, fake crying, etched and etc. Calzaghe had Bhops number and always will.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:42 pm

Boxing plus

SSR had more Ko’s than Hopkins had fights but Hopkins fan boys say SSR died of brain damage. I say to the low level not so smarts on here that WONT u have brain damage if you had a few hundred hard fights.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:40 pm

Zack

Everyone knows Bernard is WWE clown stuff. Probably the most overated fighter in the history of boxing. People. ” punks ” on here say Hopkins is equal to the great Sugar Ray Robindon lol. Hopkins is a joke compared to real greatness

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:38 pm

Easy Money

Hopkins is only good at beating former blown up welters . When it came to the white boy Calzaghe, Hopkins got blown out.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:35 pm

JE

Well, HMMMM, Tarver, a young Jones, Beyer, Lucas, Clinton Woods, a prime Hopkins. As for Ottke running — it appears both had something to do with that fight not happening. There was always an excuse at the ready. Calzaghe would’ve been a clear favorite, yet again we’ll never know. Packing fat records with mediocre opponents is becoming more and more acceptable in some quarters. Just don’t expect that we won’t notice. Joe Calzaghe’s 46-0 and far different than Floyd Mayweather’s 46-0.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:28 pm

SANITY

I apologise. Calzaghe held the WBO “supermiddleweight “title for TEN years before he faced Kessler.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:25 pm

SANITY

Its always “wouldve and couldve “with Calzaghes rabid fans . Its never about what he actually did. Joe barely beat Robin Reid, he has never faced anyone near Ward’s ability .

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:23 pm

SANITY

Actually “Hmmmm ” Joe didnt unify anything until 2007 when he fought Kessler who was a dual alphabet titlist after defeating the inept Bayer. Joe was WBO champion for 8 , yes EIGHT years before he got another strap. The Calzaghe fans dont like facts . They get in the way of the propaganda.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:22 pm

Hmmmm

Calz would beat anyone currently who’s anyone inlcuding Ward IMO. Ward is smart but not as smart as Calz when it comes to exploting weakness during a fight.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:49 pm

Hmmmm

Sanity, tell me who Calz was supposed to have on his resume after BHOP ran from a verbally agreed deal to fight in 2002 and Ottke ran from a fight?

Glen Johnson maybe. RJJ was already at LHW. So let’s have some names that should have been there.

Americans never make the trip across the pond unless there’s a darn good reason yet Joe’s undoubted greatest ever at SMW considered by most pundits is tarnished because his CV isn’t strong enough.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:48 pm

Sea Otter with a huge rod

No Calzaghe didn`t need to wipe out trash like Taylor. But Taylor beat Hopkins – so really how great is he?

The answer you are looking for is “Not very”.

And JOnes Jnr – look what happened to him when he stopped taking the drugs – KO defeat after KO defeat.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:45 pm

Hmmmm

Sanity, are you for real? Calz held every strap at SMW then moved up and was Ring Mag’s undisputed LHW champ.

You know nothing but keep trying it’s funny at least.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:45 pm

SANITY

Joe held the WBO title which was considered a joke at worst , or a bogus paper title at best. He didnt even win the title of a champion , its was a vacant title fight against the ancient and extremely overrated Chris Eubanks. Rick Thornberry went the distance with Joe as did David Starie ( maybe the worst prize fight in history ) .

JB

Ummmm…otter…you never saw calzaghr fight Taylor or ledbedev. Horrible analogy. Joe fought wankers and he got beat by Hopkins. What a joke

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:28 pm

Blaze

Yeah, Joe beat two old versions of Roy and Hopkins. Big deal. Where was he when these guys were at the top of the game? Oh yeah, he was hiding in his own country waiting for these two to fall way short of what they once were. Beating a 39 year old Roy Jones Jr and a 43 year old Hopkins doesn’t make you a legend. The only reason we even say his name is because he found a cheap way to get high profile NAMES on his record. He can say he beat two legends, but not when they were at their legendary status. If he were in his prime fighting now he would be one of the top LHWs, but only because the division sucks right now. Joe is the perfect example of how an undefeated record is meaningless.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:27 pm

Anonymous

see otter. great post and very true.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:20 pm

Anonymous

calzaghe was from taffy land. but had a good voice.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:17 pm

Sea Otter with a huge rod

You never saw Calzaghe get beat by Jermaine Taylor. YOu never see Calzaghe get knocked out by Dennis Lebedev. YOu never see Calzaghe bumbling over his words trying to call out a Klitschko.

Just accept it Americaners, he whupped your boys, and got out at the right time.

Also he wasn`t a filthy drug cheat like the vast majority of Yanks appear to be.

It would be great if you yanks could just stop your boxers jabbing themselves up with metabollically bisturbile drugs every 5 seconds.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:12 pm

home cured bacon

SO CAN YOU JUST DO ONE ANONYMOUS,JUST F~K OF AND TAKE YOUR ROY OF THE ROVERS NAMES WITH YOU..YOU CRETIN

home cured bacon

SANITY

Kessler vs Calzaghe was easy to score .8 rounds to 4 Calzaghe , dunno what this Sean Ph guy is talking about saying Kessler only winning one round . It was a competitive fight. Joe also had a nip n tuck affair with Robin Reid who is a mediocre fighter but Reid was in his prime unlike most of Joe’s opponents .

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:45 pm

SANITY

Old Tark has summed up Calzaghe pretty well. Hid in the UK fighting Ottkes retreads from 1997 for roughly a decade and then fought a 42 year old Hopkins ( who I thought beat Joe ) and a completely shot RJJ ( who Calzaghe had earlier stated he wouldn’t fight as Roy was toast ) .

Because Calzaghe is Welsh he gets seemingly every Welshman with a computer online extolling his greatness. Chris Eubanks and Joe had possibly the worst array of challengers any so called world champion in history have faced .

Name one prime great fighter Calzaghe faced . Kessler is not great . Fighters nowadays follow a business model in which they hold an alphabet strap and make good money defending against bums .

The UK fans attack Ward for fighting at home , well Calzaghe and Eubanks didn’t have many title fights in the states did they ?

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:42 pm

Anonymous

tark, yeah because calzaghe was really going to predict kovalev was going to beat his very close friend and former training partner.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:27 pm

Robert $kills

Bhop schooled him before and he will school him now.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:07 pm

LOL

LOL at all these f—wits calling people racist. You’re the same tools who swear blind the Holocaust, slavery and robbery of all the colonies never ever happened. Guilt has got you shook! Stay off the forums and keep drinking the moonshine!

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:59 pm

sean p h

Roy did test positive for steroids.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:58 pm

sean p h

Tark. Ward fought kess past his prime. Also kessler did not win but one round against joe. Plus ward fouled kessler all night with headbutts.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:55 pm

Ken

Calzaghe called out Hopkins so many times. People say Floyd is a ducker, WOW take a look at Hopkins

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:54 pm

Jason Stevenson

All that matters is that he beat cheating, dirty fighting, complaining overated Bernard Headbuttkins. the racist repeatly made remarks about Calzaghe and SWORE that Calzaghe would lose. Headbuttkins lost then wanted a rematch pathetic !!!!

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:48 pm

JB

“…when he took Bernard Hopkins to school…”

You can’t be serious. You’re either a homer from Wales or simply can’t accurately digest the boxing you watch.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:41 pm

Carbon fibre Turbo-Hamster

Ward-Calzaghe: It goes 12 rounds, the yanks will think Ward won with clean punching, the rest of the world will think Calzaghe won with volume. The southpaw stance vs Wards head-leading will probably mean headclashes – and whoever gets blamed for them might lose the point which deciides it.

Hopkins – had the chance to face Calzaghe multiple times, Calzaghe gave him a 2 point lead with that flash knockdown in the first and STILL overran him and had Nard faking injuries and low blows so that he wouldn`t get worked over late on. And that fight was in the US. Joe beats Bernard any time anywhere, he is just a more effective attacking force than Bernard is defending.

RJJ- I think beats Calzaghe, BUT Roy was a drug cheat. First time he is tested for juice he is dirty, then has tons of different excuses. SOrry but he probably cheated in every single fight he wasn`t tested in, and probably a few he was. I expunge his record, and sentence him to wander the world being KO’ed by whichever promoter needs an easy KO for their fighter.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:38 pm

somerset

Agree with it all. Though P4P Roy Jones Jr was better, Benn hit harder and a prime Toney would’ve been really interesting

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:36 pm

1903

Tark, Calzaghe beat the best Kessler the Kessler that Ward beat was not the same proposition. What has Kovalev done to suggest he could have beaten Calzaghe? Defeated Cleverly? Haha good one.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:28 pm

Shatterd Dreams

We know Calzaghe was good but strangely even with a 46-0 record, it’s still difficult to know truly how good he was and I think that says a lot about his career. With a record like Joe’s he should be up their with the absolute greats but he was such an unknown quantity for much of his career that their will always be that question mark as to why he left it so long to step up and fight the cream of the crop, and although Calzaghe had effective fighting style it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing to watch. Knowing though what do know about Calzaghe it’s save to say that he’d be a match for anybody past and present. If he was fighting now I think he’d be too quick and busy for Froch, difficult to know how he’d have done with power punchers like Stevenson and Kovalev it’s easy to to favour the KO artist but they still have more to prove, Andre Ward is probably the only one currently who could really cause him problems.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:05 pm

TARK

Right Squared Circle.., You’re right Kovalev would have crushed Calzaghe. Kovalev would have done a Nathan Cleverly on Calzaghe … Calzaghe predicted Cleverly would beat Kovalev.

Boy was HE off by a million miles, lol

Andre Ward would have easily out boxed Calzaghe as well. Ward wouldn’t have knocked him out, but Ward faced a highly favored and overrated Kessler when he had only 20 fights.

Ward outboxed Kessler as he pleased… Calzaghe got lit up by Kessler and had a much harder time of it.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:05 pm

sean p h

Cal dont kill ward mate. No no. Mad talent ward has.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:02 pm

kato3388

Lacy and Kessler were hardly the best in the division at the time. Kessler only fought in Europe, so big fish, small pond syndrome. And Lacy was pushed and overhyped as the second coming. We’re still waiting for Lacy to show up. He was overhyped way too mush, just like Andre Berto and/or Adrian Broner.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:54 pm

sean p h

Lacy and kessler were the best at 168 and joe spanked them.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:45 pm

sean p h

Joe slapped lacy hard. His entire face was swollen.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:44 pm

kato3388

@JE – cosign! If you don’t take on the best of the best, fights on paper leaves no real resolution. This is why the top guys have to take on the top guys. It erases doubt and squashes the debate. No really knows how good Calzaghe was, could’ve been because he didn’t fight the top guys in his devision.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:43 pm

sean p h

Also calzaghe never kicks roys ass and roy dont kick his ass. Fights would be competitive

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:42 pm

belly

joe is a hall of famer and an all time great

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:41 pm

sean p h

Ottke ducked calzaghe not the other way around. Calzaghe called out jones and bhop on the tyson neilson undercard in 2000.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:41 pm

Anonymous

slapper joe. lol.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:36 pm

JE

It’s too bad that despite a 46-0 record we don’t know more about Calzaghe. He waited until the end of his career to face truly elite fighters. He won convincingly against Lacy, Kessler, (a shopworn) Jones, and a still competitive but aged Hopkins. Before that period he skipped over a younger Jones, Otkke, Glen Johnson, Tarver, Beyer, Lucas, Clinton Woods, etc… No doubt Joe had enormous talent and may have beaten that entire list. But he didn’t meet the best of his generation and that will always leave an asterisk by his name.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:12 pm

kato3388

Joe Calzaghe not getting the credit he so-called deserves has NOTHING to do with him being white!!

He doesn’t get the credit because his resume is a who’s who of anonymity. A faded Chris Eubank in ’97 was the only name of note…. then cab drivers and pretzel salesmen… It wasn’t until 2006 that Joe C finally stepped up and took on a legitimate Contender in his PRIME. I won’t try and devalue his accomplishment but honestly Jeff Lacy was over hyped, much in the same vain as Berto and Broner. But Joe C did what he had to. After he beat Lacy, Calzaghe only fought 5 more times before he retired.

Saiko Bika and Peter Manfredo?!?!?! Honestly???? How much credit does that deserve?

Mikkel Kessler, was in his prime at the time so, I’ll give him that one, but again… Kessler was only ever big in Europe.

Then he fought B-hop in a fight that was pretty close, but I believe B-Hop should’ve won that one.

His last fight before retirement was a faded RJJ in 2008. So… again… Joe C’s lack of credibility comes from his resume, not his skin color.

Posted
May 30, 2014 2:59 pm

eric

Other posters that are know to not look like joe c always, not only discredit joe but say he couldn’t have beaten any fighter thaf looks like themselves, even if joe beat them already.

Dont take my word for just review the comments by guys like sedrmen, prince and such.

Posted
May 30, 2014 2:41 pm

eric

Joe c beat a bhop that was no further along as himself.
Joe c outworked hops, bhop made the fight ugly as always but wasn’t enuf
?

Joe c is very underrated by some and it usually is because of his color
! No matter how good you are when you look joe c it’s automatically harder to get the credit your deserving of, thats just the way it is in the boxing world, really bad in the USA.

Joe would fair well during ant era.

Posted
May 30, 2014 2:34 pm

Goosey

Before Froch even fought for a world title Calzaghe had moved up to win the Ring light heavyweight title and had stated to the media he was going to retire anyway….

Posted
May 30, 2014 2:33 pm

Mike Tyson

He really was a slugger/ boxer that change stylein fight Acording to how effective he could be.
That really the smartest way as someone style would alway be better that your but he has a weak ess and you exploit that weekness, roy fight is just that he took that fight over, and gave Roy his style right back and mix his slugging in the mix, Roy was confused and could deal with the blind low left hand.

Posted
May 30, 2014 2:20 pm

sean p h

Very well.

Posted
May 30, 2014 1:28 pm

Hmmmm

Goosey – I couldn’t be bothered….

Posted
May 30, 2014 12:46 pm

Goosey

TARK.. “He never stepped up to face Roy Jones when Roy was ruling 168, and when Roy was in his prime.” Calzaghe got his first super middleweight world title shot in 1997, by then Jones was fighting for world titles light heavy anyway….

Posted
May 30, 2014 12:33 pm

Anonymous

when calzaghe beat jones he forgot to drink his american orange juice.

Posted
May 30, 2014 12:27 pm

Hmmmm

Tark:

“Joe hid in England just like Froch is doing now… staying away from the best… which everybody knows is Andre Ward”

Priceless.

Posted
May 30, 2014 12:16 pm

REM

I wish Joe was around to pimp slap that hoe Stevenson. Then again Stevenson would run from Joe.

Posted
May 30, 2014 12:14 pm

Macho Gabacho

Tark – You think Ward beats Jones at 168? I agree that Ward’s skillset is far superior, but he’s never faced anyone with the speed and athleticism of Jones, while Roy faced Toney, arguably as good as anyone in pure boxing skills, and Roy toyed with him.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:52 am

Hmmmm

Calzaghe didn;t face a prime Popkins because Popkins scuppered a verbal deal in 2002 wanting to double a £3m purse.

And TMZ – all of that bollox makes Joe C a bad fighter or just a human being with flaws like you?

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:46 am

TARK

Calzaghe would do well… but he would be content to hold the 2nd tier world title, just like he did in his day. He never stepped up to face Roy Jones when Roy was ruling 168, and when Roy was in his prime.

After Roy Jones was knocked dead by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson Calzaghe was anxious to fight him.

Joe hid in England just like Froch is doing now… staying away from the best… which everybody knows is Andre Ward. Froch even said once that nobody would ever beat Andre Ward and he wouldn’t fight him again. Maybe he’ll change his mind after getting rid of Georgie boy.

Since Andre Ward is a much better fundamental boxer than either Roy Jones or Joe Calzaghe ever were, he would beat the living life out of both of them on the best day they ever saw. So if Calzaghe refused to fight prime Hopkins and Jones — what makes anyone think he would fight Andre Ward who is so much a better technician?

In fact, the wide open Calzaghe even refused to fight Carl Froch… Froch would have beaten the crap out of Joe. Froch fought more top prime fighters than Calzaghe ever fought … and Carl hasn’t been knocked on his ass as often as Joe was in his day. He’s harder to hit with a clean shot, and he punches a lot harder than Calzaghe did.

Calzaghe reminds me a lot of Lucian Bute. Easy to hit but hard to stop. Only one man ever stopped Bute … and that was Carl Froch in a one-sided early destruction.

I believe something similar would have happened in Froch-Calzaghe, because Joe led with his face and charged straight in with weak disorganized punches, leaving himself wide open … That’s why Calzaghe ducked Froch for years and years.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:46 am

Mr Magic

Calzaghe beat B-Hop fair and square, y’all.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:36 am

Macho Gabacho

Joe was one of the greatest 168 pounders in history, no doubt. But prime Roy at 168 was as good as any fighter in any weight class in history. Maybe the best combination of speed, power and amazing reflexes of all time. Joe loses to him, as well as Toney, Hopkins and Ward, assuming they are all at their best.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:32 am

TMZ

Joe called Jo-Emma repeatedly, begging her to stay friends with him but, too hurt to talk, she ignored him. When she returned to Wales to collect some of her belongings, Joe pleaded with her again to stay in touch and to come and watch the show.
He was now the ‘big man’ – the undefeated champion – and I’m sure the cocaine went along with that

‘Then he turned nasty. He said if we couldn’t be friends, that changed things,’ says Jo-Emma.
‘He said if I ever spoke about him, he and his professional team had a plan to turn me into the most hated woman in Britain.
‘He phoned me the next day to apologise. But I was really shaken. Clearly he didn’t want anything getting in the way of his new career and I was a threat to that.’
Jo-Emma watched the show only once. Rather than upsetting her, it made her laugh. ‘I thought he’d be good, but he really wasn’t. It was like watching a stranger,’ she says.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:20 am

The Prince

typo = top.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:20 am

The Prince

Prime Roy Jones with his reflexes, explosive power, and fast feet would have dominated and embarrassed Joe. What’s sad for Calzaghe fans is that Joe himself admitted that he wasn’t facing the best Jones or Hopkins, and that he had an advantaged. He called Hopkins “Old Man Popkins”, and he called Jones Jr. gun shy. He called himself the legend killer. Any chance Calzaghe could’ve proved his greatness was ruined when he refused going to America to face all the time fighters during their prime.

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:19 am

TMZ

But now, eight months after their relationship broke down, she has revealed for the first time how she watched fame, ambition and a spiralling dependence on cocaine change the amiable boxer, who to the rest of the world was the down-to-earth undefeated hero known as the ‘Pride of Wales’.
She describes how he began taking cocaine at parties but, as the drug took hold, was eventually using it up to three times a week – often while he was alone in their home.
Jo-Emma’s revelations come after Calzaghe, a former BBC Sports Personality Of The Year who has twice been honoured by the Queen, was forced to issue a humiliating apology to the nation last week following his confession that he used the class A drug.
The 38-year-old boxer, who is now in a relationship with Siberian-born Kristina, claimed he had only taken cocaine ‘occasionally’ since retiring from the sport in February last year and told fans of his ‘regret’.
But Jo-Emma says he found it increasingly difficult to go more than a few days without using the drug. She says Calzaghe:
• Threatened to make her ‘the most hated woman in Britain’ if she ever spoke out about him after they split up;
• Allegedly cheated on her during their relationship with a woman he had only just met;
• Was possessive and controlling and stood in the way of her modelling and acting career; and
• Suffered bouts of intense jealousy and had alcohol-fuelled arguments with her.
Jo-Emma, who was brought up in Hull, is attractive and bubbly and it is easy to see why she caught Joe’s eye. Theirs was a passionate affair which began in early 2004 when the couple met at a gym in West London, well before Joe had hit the big time.
‘I really fancied him and thought he was gorgeous. We chatted and he invited me to a fight,’ she recalls.
At the time, Joe was in the middle of a divorce battle with his wife Mandy, the mother of his two children, Joe and Connor.
Jo-Emma says he poured his heart out to her about his frustration. Mostly, he was upset about the amount of money he was having to part with.
‘He told people I was his angel, his rock. He said I came at a great time in his life and he needed the support,’ she says.
He’s possessive and controlling, which he would admit himself… and he really didn’t like me talking to other men
Within three months, Jo-Emma had given up her Surrey flat and moved in with Joe to a house outside Newport, Gwent. She happily put her career on hold so Joe’s could flourish and their relationship was ‘very normal – not at all starry’.
They went to the cinema, ate out regularly, spent evenings at home watching DVDs and bought a golden retriever puppy called Sonny.
‘Joe was down to earth. He still used to shop at River Island. He wasn’t vain and that’s what I fell in love with,’ says Jo-Emma.
The first time she saw him fight, she was terrified. ‘I cried before it even happened and thought, I just want you to do something else.
But I learned some fighters are cleverer and think more about tactics and the more I saw how good Joe was, the easier it got, although I still got mad butterflies with the tension.’
Living far from London, it became easy for Joe to suggest she didn’t go to modelling auditions. Initially, she agreed because of the hassle of travelling at the last minute. Then he became more forceful and Jo-Emma started to see a jealous side.
‘Joe didn’t like me doing a lot of the modelling stuff – anything that involved another man. I remember one audition for a coffee advert, which would have involved me shooting with a male model and he was adamant I shouldn’t do that.
It was classic male jealousy, which I can understand. But he’s possessive and controlling, which he would admit himself. And he really didn’t like me talking to other men.’
Joe also stopped her going out with certain friends, without apparent reason.
Yet despite all of this, he could be very romantic. He took her to Venice for their second anniversary and gave her a ring studded with diamonds. It was a gentle form of manipulation which was to become more pronounced.
‘He would say, “Why are you even going to go and audition? You won’t get it anyway.” He would just put me down. It felt horrible, when the guy you’re supposed to love does that.’

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:18 am

Hmmmm

Everyone looks bad against BHOP. Question is when has BHOP ever looked worse than when he came up against Calz?

I can;t remember seeing another fighter in a LONG time so willing to blatantly cheat to grab a breather!

Seriously, BHOP was nailed on to win Best Actor at the Oscars for the performance. My opinion of BHOP took a nose dive. I always knew he was a dirty holder/hitter/head butter but boy, faking blows to the cup to get the equivalent of 5 rounds of recovery was a joke.

Calz wore BHOP out. Calz imposed his style on BHOP and BHOP ran out of answers.

As for the slaps – even after his problems with brittle hands he still made a mess of RJJ’s face.

As the well-known quote from a fighter who faced him said “he slaps harder than I fought”.

Red – I know you think there’s no other fighter out there after Lennox Lewis but sometimes you need to take the blinkers off…..

Posted
May 30, 2014 11:05 am

Anonymous

I see SREDMOND the racist is back. Calzaghe in his prime would beat feather fisted Ward easily. Ward is a laughing stock, never fights, when he does he only fights in the US because he doesn’t have the guts to fight aboard, and nobody cares about watching him fight anyway. Andre Ward is irrelevant. But he is an expert at headbutts, I guess he learnt that from dirty cry baby Hopkins.

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:59 am

dwc

Ward vs Joe Cal…would have been great to see,a HUGE fight for the boxing public..but where would they have fought???Both liked their backyard…

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:51 am

SREDMOND

You guys quoting punch stats really kill me, its about landed blows and effective punches and if you need a guy from Compubox who you DON’T even know to tell you who got the better of a bout then you need help… Calzaghe was clearly more active than Hopkins and I had no problem with him winning the fight that said he was fighting like an amateur at times really not putting any mustard on his punches and failing to leave a real impression… The notion that he “beat up” Bhop his laughable even after that S/D and another payday that would have been amongst his biggest Calzaghe did not want to share the ring with BHop again… Reality is that Joe is a HOF fighter but certainly not an ATG beating a couple of past prime legends is not fooling astute fight fans Joes best win is Kessler which is very solid taking his “0” but not otherworldly in nature…

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:46 am

SREDMOND

Calzaghe looked TERRIBLE against 43 year old Hopkins who is this writer trying to fool? Calz would beat Froch and he already defeated Kessler.. Against Ward he would lose and lose very badly those slapping punches and often “raggedy technique” Enzo Calzaghes words would get him countered and bullied by Ward who handled Calzaghes BEST win with ease from start to finish when he (Ward) had VERY limited World Class experience… Joe was getting decked by Bhop and a rancid version of Roy Jones Jr…. He is a bonafide HOFER but he gets easily dealt with by Andre Ward who is a truly complete fighter…

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:40 am

Hmmmm

Billl – hang on – you’re lumping in some of those fighters when Calz was wanting marquee names to close out his career. He was on record as wanting 2 big fights to close it out. You think he was going to go for Clinton Woods?

He didn’t need the money. He wanted names.

I agree with you about the Johnson fight given he claimed injury but then fought someone else – fair point I forgot about him.

But then does a ducker try and get a fight on with BHOP in his prime in 2002 or the unbeaten Ottke?

And going back to LAcy, despite people now saying he was over hyped, Calzaghe still took him on as the underdog and without much chance of success according to most.

His resume could be stronger but he’s the best ever at SMW IMO.

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:34 am

Decision

Regarding the Calzaghe vs Kessler fight, Kessler had missed sparring due to a hand injury, plus he was fighting in front of 40000 Calzaghe fans in Wales.

Could the great, but weak punching, Calzaghe avoid getting Koed by Froch in Nottingham? Thats another story.

Calzaghe beating Ward in America, I find impossible.

Kessler did rather well against Calzaghe in Wales, had him on the backfoot in several rounds, showing that Calzaghe wasn’t unbeatable.

We have seen that home advantage in Smw (did anyone win away from home, in the Smw division, in later years, besides Froch against JT) is all important.

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:33 am

albeziel

He would still be undefeated, against Ward I will have doubts, against everyone else no. After seeing GGG fight Rosado and getting hit by a faster fighter not even GGG would have won.

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:24 am

Sant Flores

Calzaghe would beat every one today, the only one that would give him lots of trouble would be GGG.

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:21 am

SeeSaw

It was a SD if I recall, judges swayed by crowd overreacting to Calzaghe throwing loads of opunches and B-Hop given no credit (or compubox scores) for some great work on teh inside.

I had B-Hop by 2

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:14 am

bill

Hmmmm, i disagree , there was a lot of good talent available for joe to fight and i will give you another couple of snippets for the record! joe ducked glen johnson after he KO,d roy jones , chad dawson , kelly pavlik wanted joe , tarver , joe turned down 1 million to fight clinton woods , woods promoter denis hobson said at the time…”.we were offering joe more than he,d been paid in his whole career, if that,s not good enough , what is”, carl froch was joe,s wbc mandatory and joe woul,nt fight him!! it took joe 10 year to unify the 168 div, and in my opinion only moved up to 175 when the division was weak , and by the way andre ward beat kessler in a far more convincing manner than joe did. i could go on and on but time dos,nt permit i,m off to work.

Posted
May 30, 2014 10:13 am

eltirado

Calzaghe whupped Hopkins’ a$$ by 3 clear rounds at least.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:55 am

SLIM

I think the judges saw what I saw…don’t remember the scores though.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:54 am

SLIM

It was good fight! I never seen B-Hop get beat up not even to this day. But I thought Calzaghe out worked him in that fight. He didn’t beat him up…B-Hop said I will never let a white boy beat me remember. That gave Calzaghe extra motivation. I gave him the nod…close fight though.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:53 am

SeeSaw

@Slim

By outworking him, do u mean through a lot of punched that looked good but actually missed by miles?

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:46 am

SLIM

Went to that fight. Calzhaghe clearly out worked him I thought. And I am Bernard Hopkins fan. Big props to Calzaghe. Good fighter…now have a nice day.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:40 am

SeeSaw

@longrob

B-hop isn’t particularly liked in US, it was not a hometown decision and was probably the opposite, he was robbed in that fight

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:37 am

DMX

Not doubt about it Calzaghe was a great fighter

But in the UK, he always paid third fiddle to Prince Naseem Hamed and Lennox Lewis

Only because those two always provided edge of your seat exciting fights

Fair play to Joe, but I would rather watch at least half a dozen other Briish Champions before him

Not about winning . . . About how you win . . . . And 12 Rounds Majority Decision just don’t do it

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:33 am

Hmmmm

billy.douglas I agree that Joe’s resume is light. Whether you can then go on to accuse him of ducking is debatable.

In the early noughties what options did JC have? Ottke, Hopkins or move up to LHW.

They tried to get a fight with BHOP which never happened – down to BHOPs team not Calz’s.
They tried to get a fight with Ottke and Ottke’s camp ran a mile.

My point is that too many fans on threads about Calzaghe take that as a starting base to diminish Calzaghe the fighter.

IMO the best of his generation at adapting in-fight. One of the greatest ever when it comes to work rate & stamina, some of the best footwork a purist could wish for and a tough set of whiskers.

Instead they focus on:
Resume
“pitty pat” punches – actually he had a good set of fists before his hand problems.

Personally, the BHOP fight proved to me all I needed to know. BHOP one of the ATGs was taken into deep water by Calzaghe and if it had been a 15 round fight I reckon Calz would have done him. BHOP was so knackered because Calz didn’t let BHOP fight his own fight.

How many fighters have done that to BHOP?

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:29 am

lion carcus

@hmm..hello there, I’m 15yrs older… I’m glad you responded … I haven’t been to box rec my son has .. I love joes fighting style so fit, fast, good chin ..I think Roy jones in his prime was as good as it gets .. Just like joe he stayed home were the money is … Also James toney in his prime .. To much for joe

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:14 am

Longrob

On neutral territory Joe would have won a wide UD on Hopkins. He ran the old man out of gas. Out worked him badly.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:13 am

DIK HEAD

calzaghe beat everyone who was put in front of him!!to quick,to smart for them all,so you have to live with it sukers!!and as for you Anonymous,go change your knappy,sh!t house

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:10 am

Beatle

Re: Robin Reid vs Joe Calzaghe. Who Won?
I had it 2 points for Reid. Look at the punch stats at the end. They landed the same amount, but Reid threw less. That means Reid had better defense – and defense is one of the 4 criteria for scoring a fight. Reid also landed the harder, cleaner, more effective punches. Calzaghe was more aggressive, but it usually was not effective aggression. Calzaghe was given the decision because the judges didn’t want to take away his undefeated record. Reid had already lost once or twice.

Posted
May 30, 2014 9:05 am

Anonymous

Hmmmmm, lies that Calzaghe throws 100 punches every round in his fights.

bill

Hmmmm , so you know what your talking about and every other boxing fan who disagrees with your analysis on joes legacy knows nothing?? im british, i support british boxers and have done for 35 years. but to be honest, at this point in time i believe carl froch pocesses a much better legacy in terms of opponents than joe calzaghe,period. joe once said when asked when he was going to fight a [prime] roy jones jnr? joe,s reply was, and i quote…i would need to be payed the crown jewels to fight roy jones!! joe fought a washed up jones years later and got payed peanuts for the priledge. i had robin reid winning their fight but joe got the nod and flatly refused a re-match!!, joe pulled out twice with a fight with antonio tarver, and tarver when interviewed later said…i aint training for 10 weeks again for joe calzaghe to pull out of a fight with a broken finger nail!!. i makes me laugh when people say joe would have beat this fighter and that fighter when in fact he did,nt even fight them. it,s like saying mike tyson would whoop buster douglas, it,s easy said but was never done. look joe was a very good fight,no doubt about that, to say he was the greatest s/middle that ever lived, is pie in the sky just because he was unbeaten,and the very same people pointing out the flaws in other boxers that take on all comers like andre ward and carl froch etc….

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:59 am

Anonymous

On December 7, 2007, Hopkins and Calzaghe met face to face in the media room set up for the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton fight. Hopkins and Calzaghe began shouting insults and taunting each other, with Hopkins shouting, “You’re not even in my league! I would never let a white boy beat me. I would never lose to a white boy. I couldn’t go back to the projects if I let a white boy beat me.”[2] Hopkins would later explain his comments, saying that it was not meant to be taken as a racial slur or a reflection of his feelings on white fighters, but simply said to create some hype for his fight with Calzaghe.[3] On January 23, 2008, the fight was officially announced to take place on April 19, 2008, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.[4] For his training, Hopkins worked with Freddie Roach, Nazim Richardson, John David Jackson (who fought Hopkins in 1997), and Mackie Shilstone.[5] Calzaghe was trained by his father, Enzo. The fight was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and Frank Warren’s Sports Network. The bout was televised on HBO World Championship Boxing in the United States and on Setanta Sports 1 in the United Kingdom and the referee was Joe Cortez. Both fighters weighed in at 173 lb (78 kg).[6] 14,213 were in attendance for the fight, with at least half of them making the trip overseas from the United Kingdom to support Calzaghe.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:53 am

Anonymous

The 168 division was totally crap when Joe and Sven both managed to make 20 odd defences of the broken title. At no other point in boxing history have we ever had two men at the same weight make 20 defences of a title (and retire undefeated as well), which is living proof of how poor the division was during the late 90s and mid 2000s. It was full of blown up middles and fighters you never heard of before or after they got their shots and manipulated mandatory challengers who were crap. Between them they defended 40 times and perhaps 8 defences were worthy, which is 20% or 1:5 ratio!

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:48 am

Anonymous

Haimat, you’re wrong. Kessler and Calzaghe were neck and neck going into the 8th. Joe threw a body punch, that winded Kessler. it took him until the 11th to get back into the fight and he was teeing off massive shots on Joe in the last round.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:42 am

theyiddo

Ah…just noticed someone beat me to the quote!

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:41 am

theyiddo

didn’t Hopkins duck Calzaghe back in 2002….let me quote Jay Larkin here: “A teleconference was set up in my office in New York for July 30th, 2002, and on the call was myself, Don King who was in the room, Frank Warren and Bernard Hopkins’ lawyer, Arnold Joseph. Along with Arnold was a woman named Linda Carter, who was there on behalf of Bernard. We asked Arnold if Bernard wanted to fight Joe Calzaghe and we asked him how much money would he want if he did. The response we got was $3million and the fight would have to take place in the United States. After a little scratching of the head, we said ‘Okay, done.’ Frank Warren agreed on the spot, Don King agreed and we agreed so as far as we were concerned all parties were singing off the one hymm sheet. Arnold excused himself with Linda and I can only assume it was to call Bernard. Either that day or the next day, they came with a new demand: $6million, double the sum that had been agreed, the deal blew up…..he had then and still has no desire to fight Joe Calzaghe, that much is pretty clear.”

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:39 am

Anonymous

I wonder how George Dubbaya Bush would of gotten on if he had put on the gloves. What about Oprah, would she have been a ducker like Duckweather? What about Lucille Ball, I bet she could hit harder than feather fisted Andre Ward … is he still a boxer? Where is he? Oh yes I remember he’s sat at home in the States doing nothing and pretending to be the best SMW in the world. LMFAO … Andre Ward reminds me of Mr T … “I ain’t gettin on no plane, sucker.” Fraud Duckweather as well, “I ain’t leavin Vegas, I’m too scared to lose in another country.” I ain’t fightin anyone who can beat me. EVER. LOL … ” And there’s Hopkins the racist of course, “I ain’t fightin abroad cos I don’t wanna lose to another white boy.” LOL

America used to be fight captial of world …. those days are long gone. How many fans go to see Ward? 2000? LMFAO!!! How many go to see Fraud Duckweather? 15000??? LMFAO!!!

80,000 tomorrow night in London. 50,000 and more regularly in Germany. American boxing is a ghost town full of tumble weed. LOL

America has the number 1 and 2 P4P fighters in the world? Nope, Rigondeaux is far better than Ward and Fraud. Kovalev would smash Ward to bits, but Ward will duck him. Duckweather holds the 154 belts, but he ain’t going near GGG who offered to move down to 154 and fight him. Lara would beat Duckweather, but he won’t fight him either. How about two talented US fighters, Thurman and Porter, will Duckweather fight them? Nope. What about washed up Manny, past his best, will Duckweather fight him? Nope.
What about Hopkins the racist, says he would beat Kovalev, LOL … not in a million years, Hopkins will duck him forever. America, fight capital of world? hahahaha!!

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:33 am

Hmmmm

Lion, I’m 42 so if that’s young my thanks :)

As to 168 pounders who would beat a prime JC, who? Why does boxrec have him down as the greatest ever at 168. why do most pundits that have been around the sport for decades agree?

Calz always found a way and while his resume is light he tried to get BHOP when Popkins was in his prime in 2002 and RJJ. No takers. He also tried to get OTKE – again Otke’s team ran.

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:31 am

Anonymous

I’d say about the same sorry euro champ

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:30 am

Drunk pom

@ mick the marmalade … love to have to aboard .. Fitz was a killer …

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:17 am

Lion carcus

@hmm… you are a young man that I can tell ..joe was a very good boxer he fought in a weight and a time that was perfect for him… but my boy he was not the GOD you think he was … At 168 . There are some fighters who would out box him or ko him …

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:08 am

SeeSaw

@hmmm

Not discounting the B-Hop fight, I just though he lost it (same with Robin Reid)

Lacey hadn’t fought anyone and has been proven since to be nothing short of a hype job (maybe partly due to JC) and not EVERYONE though JC would lose.

Yes JC was good, but we don’t really know quite how good, because about 40 of his fights were against no-marks or has-beens

Posted
May 30, 2014 8:00 am

dick tiger

Joe was one of those fighters that have on nights and off nights. The thing is that he was good enough to win on an off night. When he was having an on night he was damn near unbeatable. Joe without the bad hands would have been a hand full for any SM that ever lived.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:47 am

Hmmmm

Calz’s team tried to get a fight with BHOP in 2002 or did the doubters forget?

‘A teleconference was set up in July 30th in New York, on the call was myself, Don King, Frank Warren and Bernard Hopkins lawyer Arnold Joseph. Along with Arnold was a women named Linda Carter who was there on behalf of Bernard. Arnold was asked how much it would take to set up a fight between Calzaghe and Hopkins and responded $3 million and the fight would have to be in the United States. Frank Warren immediately agreed, Don King agreed and as far as we were concerned all parties were singing from the same hymn sheet.

Arnold excused himself with Linda which I assume was to call Bernard. They came back with a new figure, $6 million, the deal collapsed.

Don’t let facts get in the way of a good stroy though….

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:43 am

matthews

Problem is Ward is a younger version of bhop and he barely got past the old version.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:42 am

Hmmmm

As for ducking and not wanting to fight the best Calz’s team tried to set up a fight with BHOP in 2002:

‘A teleconference was set up in July 30th in New York, on the call was myself, Don King, Frank Warren and Bernard Hopkins lawyer Arnold Joseph. Along with Arnold was a women named Linda Carter who was there on behalf of Bernard. Arnold was asked how much it would take to set up a fight between Calzaghe and Hopkins and responded $3 million and the fight would have to be in the United States. Frank Warren immediately agreed, Don King agreed and as far as we were concerned all parties were singing from the same hymn sheet.

Arnold excused himself with Linda which I assume was to call Bernard. They came back with a new figure, $6 million, the deal collapsed.

But hey, was all probably a myth..facts getting in the way of history again.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:41 am

mack

Calzaghe, in my opinion, would do very well today. No doubt, Ward is the best out there today, but I think Calzaghe would simply outwork him. Joe was a fine boxer, a decent puncher, and was always in top shape, keeping up a high work rate. He would be a top man in any era.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:40 am

Hmmmm

Ah the old hindsight argument re LAcey. Every man and their dog were touting an easy night for Lacey.

Lacey, the new Tyson.

Funny how unbeaten fighters are overhyped until they come up against an ATG and the best ever at SMW.

Regarding BHOP – I have never seen BHOP take 2 breaks lasting minutes for fake low blows. He’s a dirty fighter but never seen him that dirty, out of breath and out of ideas.

If you;re discounting the BHOP fight it shows the bias. It took Calzaghe to show up Lacey’s hype.

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:34 am

The oracle of Delphi

Joe Calzaghe, the real TBE – The Best Ever. Great chess player with incredibly fast hands…

Posted
May 30, 2014 7:15 am

bud the chud

And ONEINCHPUNCH knows his stuff too, good point buddy

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:50 am

bud the chud

SEESAW, FLYDOG and BOXING BARLOW know boxing… the rest of you know next to nothing

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:48 am

OneInchPunch

bud the chud – he was not ignored… he chose to stay at home and fight on most part poor opponents. He chose to listen to Frank Warren and be milked. Joe must have been deluded if he thought he could get the likes of RRJ, B’hop, J toner over here to the UK to face him. Only fighters who needed something, belt, recognition or a young fighter who wanted to prove themself over to the UK to face him. You have to ask yourself why he only took the chance of fighting abroad in his last two fights… His last fight against RRJ was a joke to me… as RRJ was rinsed-out and washed up!!

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:47 am

SeeSaw

@Hmmmm

B-Hop has been fighting like that for years, it was nothing new and he is still doing it, top spoiler.

Lacey is discounted as he was simply a hype job and so Kessler remains, by a long shot his best win – talented he was (very) but u cant label someone an ATG when 85% of his fights were against cans

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:43 am

Hmmmm

Seesaw that’s about the only weakness for me with Calz. But I saw enough in Lacey (unbeaten), Kessler (unbeaten) and BHOP (not far off prime as the last 6 years have shown) to be convinced.

If there’s doubt with the BHOP fight, it;s a fair question to ask: who else has caused BHOP to resort to time wasting and cheating to grab a breather for several minutes?

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:20 am

SeeSaw

The problem is, and will remain so, is that he really, in 46 fights didn’t really have many notable opponents who were also at their peak.

Kessler remains his only true quality win against a live opponent, no mean feat, but hardly the making of an ATG – he beat RJJ 10 years after he should have fought him (when he would ahve been Ko’d) and IMO he lost to his only other two real opponents in Robin Reid and B-HOP.

For an ATG he fought some absolute rubbish for 10 years until he fought Kessler – like Robot, Thornberry, Bika, Woodhall, Pudwill and Peter Manfredo!!!

And this is magnified by Froch, who as limited as he is has fought a far better class of opponent, for whatever reason

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:09 am

KOrnerman

drunk pom I take it you were drunk watchng the Bika fight, I dont think Bika won a round, Joe was never out of 1st gear.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:03 am

Hmmmm

An article like this always sorts out the clueless ‘fan’ from the guys who know what they’re talking about and can spot genius at work.

Calzaghe’s work rate will go down in history as legend. He threw around 100 punches per round. Every round.

He had a chin comparable to Froch’s and could take a flush hook at LHW.

Despite those that wheel out the ‘Calslappy’ comment at a moment’s notice Calzaghe actually had good pop in his fists – check out his early-mid career KO ratio BEFORE his much publicised hand problems.

About the best attribute Calz had though, which will become increasingly appreciated over time, was his ability to adapt on the fly, work out his opp’s weaknesses and take them to school.

The Kessler fight that those fans blessed with 20/20 hindsight quickly forget was a ‘pick ‘em’. Kessler’s star was at its zenith when Calz and Kessler got in the ring. Many pundits and afficionados had Kessler winning all day. Kessler, unbeaten with serious smarts and pop gave Calz 4 rounds to think about and then, as with EVERY other fight, Calzaghe found the way to take Kessler to school. It was probably his toughest fight even tougher than the BHOP fight.

People go on about BHOP being robbed or that the fight was close. For me, in the BHOP fight Calzaghe out thought and out fought BHOP to the extent that Popkin’s stamina fell apart and he had to resort to cheating to gain a breather.

Anyone knows a tired fighter is increasingly at risk of a KO and Calz still had enough power to have put Hopkins down IF Hopkins hadn’t taken around 5 mins to provide the booing audience with an acting lesson on how to fake ‘low blows’ TWICE.

At 43 BHOP was still close to his best. Ask the ‘Ghost’ who was taken to school soon after.

Like I say, there’s boxing fans who watch fights for many reasons and then there’s ‘fans’ who come on here and give us all a good laugh.

Calzaghe will remain the best at SMW for our lifetimes and probably many beyond. It’s going to take someone extremely special to knock him off his perch.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:02 am

KOrnerman

We don’t know how he would have faired against the best of his time never mind nowaday’s, Calzaghe never seemed to seek out the other top fighters in their primes, in fairness though his granite chin, immence workrate and above average power would be a handful for anyone at SMW really.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:00 am

Anon

Calzaghe in his prime would beat 90% of the field. Ward is the only one who could potentially beat him on the cards, however, Kovalev would have been interesting, if Hop and rJJ had joe down, i wonder what a kovalev punch would do,..
Superman on the other hand, no chance, hes jusr another lacy to joe, anyone with stamina issues will fail.
Shame joe isnt around, even at 40 i fancy him to beat a lot of the fighters.

Posted
May 30, 2014 6:00 am

Haimat

One of my fav fighters. At his prime he beats RJJ at his prime. There are not many fighters that I would pick against Joe C. Great boxing skills, hard worker, grit and determination, immense will to win. Hard to beat that.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:59 am

Mick the Marmalizer

Bob Fitzsimmons, Stanley Ketchell, Billy Conn, Archie Moore, Randolph Turpin & Bob Foster would have a field day in this day & age @ 168Lb!

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:51 am

skinnysteve

chavez jrwould KO the slapper in under 4 rounds

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:50 am

flydog

Great fighter in my book and I wasn’t always the biggest fan of his style. Cal had great handspeed and footwork and awesome stamina but what separated him for me were the intangibes. Joe had a true fighting heart, grit, determination and toughness. People are born with those kind of qualities – they are part of what make a person who they are. They are characteristics and Joe had them in abundance. If you watch much of his dad you can see where a lot of Joe’s fighting spirit came from!! Cal would have loved being in today’s SMW mix I reckon.

P.S. At their respective peaks RJJ beats Cal every day of the week and twice on Sunday’s!!!

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:44 am

drunk pom

calzeghe was a very good boxer.. I remember sakio bika beat him up but lost on points .. which says no he is not the greatest 168 lb boxer… prime Roy jones speed foot and hand would tko joe … Tommy hearns (welter ) caves his face in… James toney out boxes out punches joe ko 10 … As for today : kovalev has looks to have the style to rough him up (bika) ward. He would win on PTs ; to strong, to fast

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:38 am

bud the chud

He became champion in 97 and was ignored by the boxing world until the lacy fight in 2006, a few fights prior to that warren was thinking about dropping him as his fights were stale and not a big draw, even his biggest fans would be lying if they said his fights were must see affairs like hamed, hatton, benn and froch, im a boxing nut but watching joe go at it with the likes of tocker pudwill was not for me! Greatest super middle ever ignored by everyone for 9 years as champ… strange that

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:37 am

Mick the Marmalizer

The reason Calzaghe was lackluster in the early day’s & hid behind his WBO title was due to Frank Warren. I’m sure Joe would have fought anyone anywhere, but unfortunately ca$h is King!

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:34 am

Reality Bites

Reminds me when I played my mate at snooker in Blackpool last weekend. He’s a great player so my only way to stifle the onslaught was play safe and not take any risky shots. He still beat me but it wasn’t a complete whitewash. Great analogy Barlow

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:29 am

Mick the Marmalizer

Yet another hypothetical article. We may as well discuss how Bob Fitzsimmons would get on in this day & age!

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:29 am

bud the chud

Calzaghe??? How come bums like tarver, johnson, lebedev and super elite bum danny green were able to ko the carcass of the G.O.A.T but joe made a meal of it and went the distance, even roy had to laugh!

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:28 am

Kidney Digga

In all truth, we will never know how could Joe was because of his reluctance to fight the best at the relevant time.
I’ve no doubt he could’ve proved himself, but chose not to.

Regardless of his fans’ overblowing his record, in reality there are only a handful of good wins on his resume.

Kessler was his best win by a long chalk; a good, hard fought battle against a dangerous KO artist, Calazaghe fought superbly to get the win.

Hopkins; well, i actually had Hopkins ahead on the cards by a nat’s cock, so it was far from a schooling. And Hopkins was still old then! Faaar from prime.

Roy Jones; well, this was a bit embarrassing to watch considering what a shell of the former man he was and Joe’s persistent showboating against a way beyond faded fighter was cringeworthy. Still, regarded by Calazaghe fanboys as a Hall Of Famer on his record, so in short a great win…?

Lacy. Ok, yeah…. Lacy was considered a dangerous KO artist before the fight and was a heavy favorate going in, admittedly. It was a career defining performance from Joe.
A great win. But let’s not forget Lacy’s piss poor showings after that fight made him look decidedly average; Joe’s fans insist Calzaghe “ruined him”. Possibly. But also highly possible that Lacy was in fact a hype job (with KO power) who wasn’t that great in the first place.
Lots of people fell into the same mould (Kermit Cintron springs to mind…everyone thought he was the next big thing when his KO ratio was 100%….then look what happened).

And then Eubank. Well, again, a faded, way-past-prime Eubank still took Joe into the trenches to win a hard fought decision.

So there is his best wins (forgive me if ive missed any). Not exactly the stuff of TBE at 168 is it? As i said, i’ve no doubt Joe could’ve been the best ever at that class, ife he’d have shown us then we’d know for sure……

In my humble opinion, Froch has fought a better career against consistently dangerous opposition and while not as polished a technician as JC, he’s shown a bigger pair of cojones time and time again, and thus gets more respect from boxing fans than Calzaghe did in his peak.

Truth.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:26 am

Reality Bites

Yes I have boxed in my 20s with varied success. And I know a great boxer when I see one. He could of defeated anybody there was nobody out there who could of defeated him. Just seeing how confident he looked and at ease. Some of these Americans hate the fact that a non American was beating them. Same as Americans don’t give any respect to the Klit brothers because they arent American even though they have dominated for a decade or so with every American being demolished. But yet Americans like to think they still dominate boxing. Well since the end of the Cokd War now they have to fight the world so arent so good anymore. For 40 years the Cold War stopped them from fighting Eastern European fighters now they do, American fighters arent so good anymore as they arent fighting solely themselves. Damm that must hurt.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:18 am

Rustybucket

Can’t see why people would say Calzaghe gets Koed by certain figbters.
The hit he took from Eubanks in the 12th round and the one from Mitchell would have Koed 99% of fighters.

His chin was exceptional.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:16 am

Hoity Toity

Totally Agree

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:16 am

SeeSaw

@RealityBites

So what u are saying is, unless u have boxed yourself, you can’t have an opinion?? Well i have boxed, not very well, but I have; have u?

He record is padded and he is therefore overrated – if he had fought RJJ or B-HOP when he should have his record would not read 46-0

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:08 am

The oracle of Delphi

Calzaghe is 46:0 like Nayweather. C. was exciting to watch and beat everyone available to him except the fighters who ducked him and did not have the guts to fight him (in England). If he would have had an American promoter, fought in the US, he would have had more spectacular fights. Still, C. Is an unbeaten legend and ATG.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:04 am

Reality Bites

Look at these jealous armchair warriors saying how crap Jow was when I bet most of them couldn’t fight to save their lives. Inferiority complex comes to mind. I know and you know Joe eould of slapped you silly. So instead of hating on greatness take a good long look in the mirror and tell yourself, what are you afraid of. I’m not scared to admit greatness when I see it. So armchair warriors stop being jealous of a great boxer and show some respect. My betting is that you are the sort if people who wished you could fight like that but can’t so whine about people who can. Let’s see you do 12 rounds with that work rate lmao.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:01 am

CurlyQ.Howard

“The reason for this is, to a very large extent, Stevenson and Kovalev are overrated flavors of the month who are unproven, especially Kovalev.” Get off Joe’s sack, Alexander. Please. Enough is enough.

Posted
May 30, 2014 5:00 am

The oracle of Delphi

@ butt the chad, Calzaghe beat Hopkins in BHops’ own backyard. In England, he would have won a clear points decision with wide margins. Although the dirty old BHops pulled all tricks in his own backyard, he still couldn’t win…that says it all.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:59 am

OneInchPunch

he was the best SMW of his era…. but he never proved it by facing the best… personally i think if you look at his record… yes 46-0-0 looks very good until you look at the names on his CV.. not very impressive. I personally think he would have beaten Glen johnson… but he ducked him twice. but he fought the likes of Evens Ashira. Carl Froch isn’t as good as Joe Cal but i have an enormous amount more respect for him… will fight the best in the division… will travel to face them and not at the end of his career to face two all-time greats… one whiles old customers who’s output and peas is lower than a snakes belly and the other rinsed-out and washed up. Personnaly i give on credit to Joe for facing RRJ.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:57 am

bud the chud

He lost to robin reid too, what a legend!

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:57 am

bud the chud

Jones, toney, benn, ward and froch just on his quality of opposition are better super middles, joes 4 biggest fights included 2 washed up fighters and 1 hype job, he only gets credit for the kessler one in my book as i thought popkins beat him anyway, his legacy is about the same as the mighty sven ottke in the boxing world LMFAO

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:55 am

The oracle of Delphi

Great boxer, I believe he would beat the competition these days including an Andre Ward, who is overrated and doesn’t fight enough. Would have been a great fight…

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:55 am

bud the chud

Is this dude having a bubble? Best ever super middle? The lead up reminds him of slappys fights? Took hopkins to school on a split decision lol

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:46 am

Jb221

He would have done great he’s a better boxer then kovalev and stevenson

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:43 am

SeeSaw

I assume this was written by Enzo himself… Ward would have Ko’d JC and probably both Froch and Groves would have taken him close.

RJJ beats him every time during his prime, as would Eubank, Watson etc.

Avoided everyone when he could, overrated by most

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:42 am

Bo Bo Olson

Cal ran from Swenie, twice..OK once he hurt his hand…and never rescheduled. Second time he wanted as one belt man, to give Ottka less than what he got in Germany, vs the two belt man.
Any good judge would have to disregard half the Slapper’s slaps in they are illegal. You are not allowed to hit with the inside of the hand.
43 is ancient, so is 35. I had the Hopkins fight for Hopkins…by a hair….but that’s ok… I’d gone with a draw….I was not a Hopkins fan. There was no taking to school at all….the writer is a fan-boy only.

I had The Spitter loosing to Hagler….in many of the punches were glancing off the top of Hagler’s head. If he’d had hair one could have seen that easier. An also don’t count punch.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:38 am

Reality Bites

In fact almost all US boxers refuse to come out of the States for fear of losing. But expect the world to come to them. Well not anymore seeing as most of the talent now is coming from Europe.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:36 am

Reality Bites

The Prince is obviously jealous. Get a grip look at the footage of Joe and Hopkins the work rate was coming all from Joe. Then the tired Hopkins had to resort to dodgy tactics like pretening he had a low blow and crying about it so he could have a breather. Joe was laughing at Hopkins thinking how lame and pathetic he looked when he kept complaining. Headbutts and holding seem to be a tactic quite a few American boxers use like Ward for instance. But like Hopkins and Ward they are scared to come out of the States for fear of losing.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:32 am

Manitronix

Haimat, you’re so full of yourself. Stop slurping Joe Calzaghe.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:32 am

tarks daddy

They all suk boxing is gettin lame asf

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:24 am

The Prince

Calzaghe would’ve lost more than once if he kept fighting today, or if he actually fought the best fighters during his prime. Eubank would’ve beaten him, Jones Jr. would’ve knocked him out, and B-Hop would’ve dominated him. In fact, B-Hop landed the cleaner blows in their fight and Calzaghe only won because of B-Hop’s big mouth before the fight. Calazghe’s slaps were mostly landing on B-Hop’s gloves. Enzo Calzaghe was very smart with how he handled his son’s boxing career.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:20 am

Auzbox

Unbelievable fighter beats any b hop and would of gone close to beating the best Roy jones also.

Posted
May 30, 2014 4:12 am

Haimat

urone2, it’s Kessler. Secondly, you’re hating. 46-0 undefeated. 22 defenses at 168. I saw Calzaghe for the first time in 97. Incredible fighter. He outclassed all opponents. Kessler was doing all right until the 4th when Joe stepped on the gas and outfought him. No head buts or foul play. He outjabbed the jabber and beat him up. B-Hop was pulling every trick in the book but still lost a decision on home turf.

Joe was desperately calling out the big US names after each defense early in his career but there was no interest on the other side of the pond at all. Wrong promoter, the risk wasn’t worth the reward.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:59 am

urone2

Calzaghe, got a decision over B-Hop he did not dominate anything. B-Hop was old at that stage of his career, which he is older now and Dawson’s victory over B-Hop was a better victory than that of Calzaghe. Being as Calzaghe refuse to establish himself in the U.S. to get fights with Hopkins and RJJ in Their primes he sold all his fans short and waited until both guy were old before bringing anything to the table. The masterful showing against Kesseller was not that Masterful, Kesseller showed in that fight that he was unable to adjust during a fight that he was clearly winning until Calzaghe made an adjustment. Calzaghe work rate was impressive but the slapping punches was right out of a street fight.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:47 am

Reality Bites

The first time I saw Calzaghe he reminded me of a modern day Rocky. Confident with model good looks and ring smarts that made him stand out. And like Rocky also undefeated. That time when the US hyped Lacy into a smaller version of Tyson only to see him get destroyed and ripped apart over 12 rounds. At the end Joe didn’t have a mark on his face while Lacy looked like a car crash victim. When Hopkins said he would never lose to a White guy only to be defeated by Joe while being ridiculed throughout the fight in his own country. Joe would of beaten anybody as far as I’m concerned.

Posted
May 30, 2014 3:42 am

Rustybucket

Pretty much agree, except I don’t think we saw enough of Calzaghe at Lt heavy to give a firm opinion on whether he would beat Stevenson and Kovalev.
Against Ward, if it was in the UK I would pick Calzaghe and if in the USA, Ward gets the pick.